Family in Tennessee

We stopped in Cookeville, Tennessee for a few days on our Tennessee loop to visit with Aaron's sister and her family.  We stayed at Twin Lakes Catfish Farm (actually in Baxter), which was an interesting experience!  The fishing ponds and restaurant are only open Thursday - Sunday, and thus that is the only time the campground is staffed.  When we arrived on Wednesday (with reservations), there was not a soul in sight and the after hours telephone's mailbox was full.  So we just picked a site and set up.  I left messages every way I could (the normal hours phone and email) and someone did call me back within a couple hours to confirm everything was ok, which made me feel much better!

Campsite a the Catfish Farm

I really enjoyed watching the black vultures at the farm - I'm not clear how (whether discarded by fishers, accidental flopping up from a crowded pond, or actual snatching by predators), but the fish ponds consistently had fresh dead fish around them, which attracted a TON of vultures.  I've never seen so many vultures in one place!

In the morning before the staff arrived to chase them off.  A fake
owl and hanging aluminum pans had no effect at all on the
vultures (to be fair, these were probably placed to keep the songbirds away,
who were also plentiful).  These were a small fraction of the black vultures 
across my whole field of view.

The ponds were well stocked and I could see several fish near the surface, including this guy who seemed to be coming to the surface to drink.

Catfish!

We had a great time visiting with my sister-in-law and her family.  We went to a local park where the kids played in the creek, brought them over to see our RV for the first time, and spent a bit of time hanging out at the house and playing in the backyard.

Aaron playing tag in the backyard

Playing at the creek (pictured: my sister-in-law's family of four plus me)

One of our nephews really enjoyed chasing the vultures at
our campground!